A coalition of conservation groups has helped the U.S.
Forest Service buy 9,000 acres to set aside for habitat
and recreation near the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and
along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Lands bought along six miles of the trail are the largest
acquisition since the trail was designated in 1968, said
David Atcheson, campaign director for the Cascades Conservation
Partnership, which set out three years ago to raise public
and private money to buy 75,000 acres of privately owned
land in the Cascades.
The partnership has arranged the purchase of nearly 30,000
acres for $57 million, with $15 million coming from 16,000
donors and $42 million coming from Congress. It is well
short of the partnership's goal but good in light of the
current economic climate, Atcheson said.
"We kind of launched in some heady times," he said. "We
did really well and we continue to make progress."
Those lands that have been bought have been top priorities
for habitat and protection from development, he added.
The 4,400 acres south of Alpine Lakes, in the Salmon
la Sac region of the Cle Elum Valley, are original land-grant
properties sold by Plum Creek Timber Co. for $4.1 million.
The land, in seven different parcels, has 700 roadless
acres and 800 acres of old-growth habitat.
Plum Creek sold the 4,700 acres along the Pacific Crest
Trail for $3.7 million. Money for the purchases was appropriated
by Congress from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The partnership is working to get $8.5 million from Congress
for another 5,300 acres. That land is available through
the end of the year through options the Forest Service
arranged with Plum Creek after land exchanges brokered
in 1999. It also is working to get $1 million from Congress
so the Forest Service can use options on another two parcels
along the Pacific Crest Trail.
